Chris Mfula
10 July 2009
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has appointed Home Affairs Minister Kalombo Mwansa as Defence Minister, replacing George Mpombo who resigned from Cabinet on Tuesday.
Lusaka Province Minister Lameck Mangani has now moved to the Ministry of Home Affairs as Minister. Mr Mpombo resigned from Cabinet and the MMD national executive committee (NEC) on Tuesday citing personal reasons.
The president's special assistant for Press and public relations Dickson Jere said in a statement issued yesterday that Mr Banda had accepted Mr Mpombo's resignation from both Cabinet and the NEC. "President Banda thanked Mr Mpombo for the service he rendered to the Government and the nation when he served as Minister of Defence. "President Banda has also accepted the resignation of Mr Mpombo from the NEC of the ruling MMD and wished him well in his future endeavours," Mr Jere said.
He said Mr Mangani's replacement would be announced later. Meanwhile, MMD national chairperson Michael Mabenga said in Lusaka yesterday that the MMD has not regretted Mr Mpombo's resignation because it was of no consequence. "I personally welcome Mr Mpombo's resignation and I am sure this is the same stance taken by the party.
"His resignation has no bearing or impact whatsoever on the party," Mr Mabenga said. He said the MMD was intact and was not shaken by Mr Mpombo's resignation and that the party would look for a suitable person to replace him. He said the party's general membership was not moved by Mr Mpombo's resignation because the party was capable of moving on without him.
He, however, said that although the party did not have regrets over Mr Mpombo's decision, the former minister should have made consultations with other members before resigning. On the MMD convention, Mr Mabenga said the party and Mr Banda had said any person was free to stand for the presidency during the convention as long as they met the qualifications in the party constitution.
Mr Mabenga said the decision to endorse Mr Banda as the sole candidate came from provincial branches and not the NEC. He said the NEC could not deny members the choice they wanted for president because they had a right to pick any person they wanted and this time they had chosen Mr Banda. Mr Mabenga said about 90 per cent of the party wanted Mr Banda to be president for the next convention and the NEC could not resist the pressure from its members.
On Professor Clive Chirwa's ambitions to contest the presidency, Mr Mabenga said he was free to do so but should prove that he was a genuine member.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Times of Zambia. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
